Admissions

Program Prerequisites

The prerequisites for entry into the Biology program at the University of Washington, Bothell are:

A one-year Introductory Biology series intended for science majors. The series should be equivalent to the B BIO 180, 200, 220 series as offered at UW Bothell, and must include labs.

A one-year General Chemistry series intended for science majors. The series should be equivalent to the B CHEM 143+144, 153+154, 163+164 series at UW Bothell, and must include labs.

The University of Washington operates on a quarter system. If you are transferring from an institution that operates on a semester system, then please note that a three-quarter series and a two-semester series are usually considered equivalent.

You may submit an application while you have your final Intro Biology and/or General Chemistry course in progress, but these courses must be completed before you begin your first quarter in the Biology major.

All prerequisite coursework must be completed with a minimum of 2.0 in each course. However, reaching this minimum is not a guarantee of admission.

How to Apply

Internal Applications

If you are a pre-major student at the University of Washington Bothell, please submit an internal application online. Students from UW Seattle or Tacoma campus, please complete a transfer application, below.

Transfer Applications

If you are a student from an institution other than the University of Washington Bothell, please submit a transfer application online. Students from UW Seattle or Tacoma campus, please use this application.

Notes on Transfer Coursework

To determine how most courses from a 2-year institution in Washington state transfer to the University of Washington Bothell, visit our transfer equivalency guide.

However, certain coursework from Washington colleges will not count for similarly named requirements of the UW Bothell Biology degree. These include:

Partial Biology, Chemistry, Organic Chemistry or Physics Series

Sequences of coursework often differ between institutions in terms of exact content and what order key concepts are taught between courses within each series. Because of this, individual transfer courses are likely to not be equivalent to individual courses in our corresponding series, even if the series as a whole is considered equivalent. It is strongly recommended that you take all courses in these series before transferring to UW Bothell, or wait to take the whole series after transferring.

Statistics

The Statistics requirement of the degree must be fulfilled with coursework that covers ANOVA or similar techniques of data analysis. This is needed in order to prepare you for the Investigative Biology (research) requirement of the degree later on. Because of this, the following courses are not accepted for the requirement:

STAT 220 at the UW Seattle Campus

MATH& 146 (Introduction to Statistics) at Washington colleges

Other statistics coursework that does not cover ANOVA or similar techniques

Microbiology

In order to ensure academic rigor, the Cell Biology and Biology Electives requirements of the degree must be fulfilled using upper level coursework. This coursework should itself require introductory-level biology as a prerequisite, and should be comprehensive in nature (not just pathology-specific). Because of this, the following courses are not accepted for the requirement:

MICROM 301, 302 (General Microbiology) at the UW Seattle Campus

BIOL& 260 (Microbiology) at Washington colleges

Other microbiology coursework without introductory biology as a prerequisite

Anatomy & Physiology

In order to ensure academic rigor, the Physiology and Biology Electives requirements of the degree must be fulfilled using upper level coursework. This coursework should itself require introductory-level biology as a prerequisite, and should be comprehensive in nature (not just human-specific). Because of this, the following courses are not accepted for the requirement: